


Boats and Birds

by revoltrad



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: M/M, the small word count is killing me but i'll live, they make out
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-07
Updated: 2018-10-07
Packaged: 2019-07-27 10:37:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,146
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16217291
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/revoltrad/pseuds/revoltrad
Summary: Since when has Kanata Shinkai ever played by any of Kaoru’s rules?





	Boats and Birds

It wasn’t supposed to happen.

 

But Kaoru can’t escape those sea green eyes, he can’t fight the force that draws him like a magnet to Shinkai Kanata. Kanata is the moon, and Kaoru is the sea, yearning towards him, caught in his pull.

 

They stand, side by side, in front of the fishtank, awash in pale blue glow from the light of the tanks. No matter how Kaoru complains, Kanata likes to leave the overhead lights off in the Marine Bio clubroom. He says it “ _ feels more like ‘home’ that way, Kaoru-kun~.” _

 

Kaoru glances to his right, and is startled to see that Kanata watching him and not the fish in the tank before them. He quickly averts his eyes, cheeks heating under Kanata’s gaze. And that, in and of itself, sets him on edge. Because he’s  _ straight _ , and no guy should ever affect him the way Kanata does. It doesn’t make sense - it doesn’t make sense why he wakes in the middle of the night, covered with sweat with the taste of the sea on his tongue, doesn’t make sense how his heart beats faster when Kanata thumps his head against Kaoru’s back, doesn’t make sense why Kaoru’s pace increases as he makes his way to the fountain during lunch break at school.

 

But since when has Kanata Shinkai ever played by any of Kaoru’s rules?

 

He feels those eyes on him, steady, sincere in a way that only Kanata can be. Kaoru fidgets, eyes dropping towards the ground as he feels, for once, vulnerable.

 

“Kanata-kun,” he says, half a question, half a way to break the silence that has fallen in the dark room. He looks up again and meets Kanata’s gaze once more, this time only to hold it. Kanata watches him with something honest; something earnest. 

 

It makes Kaoru feel like Kanata can see right into the heart of him; it makes him think that Kanata’s claim to otherworldliness might not be a false after all.

 

Kanata takes a step towards him, and Kaoru takes a step back. But Kaoru’s movement doesn’t seem to deter Kanata - Kaoru isn’t afraid, and Kanata  _ knows _ it. It’s a sort of dance, with Kanata taking some kind of initiative that Kaoru can’t even begin to understand; yet he’s caught up in the steps regardless. That’s just how it is with Kanata, he thinks. Fighting the tide never got anyone anywhere, and some part of Kaoru wants to be lost at sea.

 

Their dance continues, slow, patient, until Kaoru can’t take another step backwards. His shoulder blades meet the wall, and yet still Kanata does not stop. He moves forward until he’s in Kaoru’s space, breathing the same air as him.

 

This is the moment of truth - the silence between them as Kanata looks Kaoru in the eye and sees whatever is there, the somethings that Kaoru simply can’t articulate because he doesn’t even know how to make sense of them himself. 

 

Kaoru’s heart is flying, and god, has anyone ever made him feel like this before? He feels like he’s free-falling, but his feet remain stubbornly on the ground.

 

“K...Kanata-kun?” he says again, this time a genuine question. He doesn’t know what Kanata’s doing, what his motive is, but he  _ does _ feel something between them starting to shift. Likely another one of Kaoru’s carefully constructed walls being smashed to pieces.

 

Still, Kanata stares at him, no answer falling from his lips. Instead his hand raises to cup Kaoru’s cheek, and Kaoru feels the unexpected warmth from it, the softness of delicate hands that hide formidable strength. His soft brown eyes dart towards the hand for only a second, as if he can’t quite believe what’s happening unless he verifies it with more than one of his senses. But then his eyes are back on Kanata’s, and Kaoru feels himself surrender. Whatever this is, whatever is happening - he will bend to the force of nature that is Kanata without complaint.

 

Kanata leans forward so that their breaths intermingle, and he pauses, waits one last moment. And then presses their lips together.

 

Kaoru does not feel sparks fly. He does not feel explosions or lightning spread throughout his limbs... but oh,  _ oh, _ does he feel.

 

The press of Kanata’s lips against his own is firm, perhaps unpracticed, but it’s also patient and it is, in its essence, so very sweet. Kaoru’s heart takes the plunge the second their lips meet, feeling full in every cell. He is a cup runneth over, he is pouring out an ocean, he is  _ kissing Kanata back _ .

 

His heart sings a tune that he’s never heard in a live ever before as he parts his lips, tilting his head into Kanata’s waiting palm. His tongue slips along the seam of Kanata’s mouth before he can even think about it, and Kanata opens up to the touch and meets him halfway. There are words unspoken between them, communicated regardless. Kanata presses Kaoru back against the wall, and Kaoru lets him. 

 

How different it is to be kissing another man. Kaoru reaches out and finds hard edges instead of curves, planes of muscle and sturdiness instead of the softness he’s found so many times before. Kanata feels unbreakable beneath his fingers, and it makes Kaoru’s heart soar, pleased in the most primal way. He isn’t careful as he draws back to suck Kanata’s bottom lip between his own, pressing teeth against flesh. And Kanata is just as insistent when he slips his tongue into Kaoru’s mouth and licks into him, dominating and  _ fuck, that’s really hot _ . Kaoru makes a quiet sound between them, and Kanata hums his approval.

 

After moments, they part, both short on breath, foreheads pressed together. 

 

“Kanata-kun,” Kaoru breathes, sent spinning out of orbit.

 

“Is this ‘okay’?” Kanata says, voice ever so soft, ever so gentle. 

 

_ He thinks I’m going to run _ , Kaoru realizes.

 

But Kaoru isn’t going to run. Not right now, not in this moment, not pressed against Kanata and fitting there in a way that he’s never fit against anyone before. Overthinking is a habit that Kaoru will never be able to break, he knows, but this isn’t the time for thinking. Not now, not when he’s feeling so  _ much _ . He’ll do his thinking later, but Kaoru already has an idea that no matter what logic his brain tries to apply to the situation, he’s already lost in Kanata’s flow. 

 

“Yeah,” he says back at last, hand lifting to press against the back of Kanata’s. 

 

And he is. He may have a lot of baggage to work through, he may have a million and one reasons to not be ‘okay’, but Kaoru finds peace in Kanata’s hands.

 

He presses his lips to Kanata’s again, this time on his own initiative.

 

Kaoru sinks to the bottom of whatever is flowing between them, and finds that he can still breathe.

**Author's Note:**

> if you could take 30 seconds to leave a gentle encouragement i'll thank you forever
> 
> my excuses:  
> 1\. i've been writers blocked for months and this is the first thing i managed to get out of my system  
> 2\. this is the first time i've written kaokana so i'm still getting a feel for them  
> 3\. not beta'd
> 
> on twitter @revoltrad_


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